defrock

[ dee-frok ]

verb (used with object)

1. to deprive (a monk, priest, minister, etc.) of ecclesiastical rank, authority, and function; depose.
2. to discharge from a profession, office, or honorary position:

   a defrocked lawyer.

3. to divest or strip of a frock.

defrock

/ diːˈfrɒk /

verb

1. tr to deprive (a person in holy orders) of ecclesiastical status; unfrock

Word History and Origins

Origin of defrock¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from French défroquer, equivalent to dé- + froque + -er infinitive suffix; dis- ¹, frock

Example Sentences

Born in 1932 in the northeastern province of Siem Reap, home to Cambodia’s famous Angkor temples, Tep Vong was first ordained as a monk in his hometown in 1952, serving until he was forced to defrock when the Khmer Rouge came to power.

From Seattle Times

Only the Pope can appoint or defrock a bishop.

From BBC

The quarter-century legacy of John Paul II — then pope, now a saint — has been badly tarnished by evidence he turned a blind eye to abuse even when the Vatican had copiously well-documented cases and even when bishops in the U.S., facing mounting legal liability, begged the Vatican for fast-track ways to defrock abusers in the 1980s.

From Washington Times

The quarter-century legacy of John Paul II — then pope, now a saint — has been badly tarnished by evidence he turned a blind eye to abuse even when the Vatican had copiously well-documented cases and even when bishops in the U.S., facing mounting legal liability, begged the Vatican for fast-track ways to defrock abusers in the 1980s.

From Seattle Times

He said the Vatican’s current legislation precluded an investigation that could have led to a harsher penalty — the most stringent church penalty is to defrock a priest, essentially making him a regular layman again.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• abuse
• chastise
• correct
• crack down on
• discipline
• dismiss
• execute
• expel
• fine
• harm
• hurt
• incarcerate
• sentence